Qatar's Younousse-Tijan enter quarter-finals

(MENAFN - Gulf Times) Star Qatari pair of Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan marched into the quarter-finals of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Doha 4-Star Katara Cup yesterday. At the Katara Cultural Village Amphitheatre, the World No 8 Qatari pair defeated Russia's Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovskiy 2-1 (21-12, 18-21, 15-8) in the pre-quarter-final match. Younousse and Tijan will take on Poland's Michal Bryl and Grzegorz Fijalek, who defeated Austria's Robin Seidl and Philipp Waller 2-0 (21-19, 21-19), in the last eight stage today. Earlier in the day, Poland's Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak also reached the quarter-finals as they defeated Canada's Sam Schachter and Sam Pedlow 2-0 (23-21, 21-14) to set up a clash with the USA's Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena today. 'We started very slowly, but in the end we won a tough set, Losiak said. 'We tried to put more pressure on their serve and we had some good points from block serve. In the second set we started very aggressively and went to 5-1, but they started to serve well and we kept serving well. We are happy that we are in the quarter-finals. We did a good job today and it is important that we're guaranteed a fifth, but now we'll do our best to reach the semis. Joining them in the last eight are the evergreen Spain's Pablo Herrera and his long-time partner Adrian Gavira, who are chasing their first World Tour gold since they won the Ostrava 4-Star in June 2018. The Spaniards also enjoyed a straight-set victory, 2-0 (22-20, 21-14) over Austria's Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst. Their win means that they have improved on their second round finish from 2018, the first time they competed in Doha. 'We know them well and they know us well because we train together in Spain, Gavira said. 'It was a really tough match, but we've been playing really well in this tournament especially with our side-outs. 'I'm not sure if we're playing Brazil or Russia next, but if we play like this we have a chance. Now we have to rest well. Herrera-Gavira will vie for the semi-finals spot with Russian pair of Nikita Liamin and Igor Velichko. In the last quarter-final Italy's Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo will take on Chile's Marco Grimalt and Esteban Grimalt.